Up Next

Barcelona Terror attack: Aussies injured

Barcelona Terror attack: Aussies injured

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed three Australians have been hurt when a van mowed people down in a popular tourist spot, killing more than a dozen people and injuring around one hundred more.

Up Next

Journalist discusses Bannon's rogue interview

Journalist discusses Bannon's rogue interview

In an interview with The American Prospect, Steve Bannon said there's no military solution to North Korea and described the white supremacist movement as "a collection of clowns." The journalist who spoke with him talked about their chat.

French forces drive Mali rebels from Gao

Malian and French forces capture the rebel stronghold of Gao, two weeks after the military intervention began.

''There were air raids on Islamist bases in Kidal,'' 1500 kilometres north of the capital Bamako, a Malian security source said, adding that the home of Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) chief Iyad Ag Ghaly was destroyed.

Kidal has been a bastion of Ansar Dine, whose leader is a former soldier and a Tuareg ex-rebel, who formed the group last year.

Free at last ... children wave for the camera in the recently liberated town of Konna, where at least 11 civilians died in French air strikes. Photo: Reuters

France launched a military offensive on January 11 after Islamists captured a central town and pushed deeper into government territory towards the capital.

The French Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the troops, having captured Gao, were advancing on Timbuktu, another town held by al-Qaeda -linked rebels and for centuries a centre of Islamic learning.

Advertisement

French-led forces took Gao from the al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, one of the Islamist groups that for 10 months have controlled northern Mali.

You will now receive updates fromBreaking News Alert

Breaking News Alert

Soldiers from Chad and Niger were expected to arrive in Gao soon, the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said. They will be part of a contingent of 1900 African troops who have already arrived to drive out the rebels, aided by the 2500 French soldiers deployed.

In Konna - which was overrun by Islamic fighters on January 10, prompting France to intervene - a clearer picture began to emerge of the fighting. Residents and officials said that at least 11 civilians had been killed in French air strikes.

The charred remains of utes lined the road into the town, and broken tanks and guns littered the fish market, where the rebels appeared to have set up a temporary base. France's sudden entry into the fray has left the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) scrambling to put together an African-led intervention force to help retake the northern half of the country. Mali's army, which has struggled to fight the Islamist groups, has been accused of serious human rights violations.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon on Saturday agreed to refuel French warplanes conducting operations against Islamist militants in Mali, the US military said.

France had previously asked President Barack Obama's administration for refuelling assistance and the outgoing US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, has approved the request, a Pentagon spokesman, George Little, said.

Mr Obama held telephone talks with the French President, Francois Hollande, on Friday during which the two leaders discussed global security concerns and promised to work together to tackle extremism in North Africa.